Track and tie laying kit



Feb. 10, 1970 R- ENGHOLM 3,494,042

TRACK AND TIE LAYING KIT Filed Aug. 30. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J Ill/4'14 9 W i N23 INVENTOR.

ROBERT ENGHOLM K BY A \W.

WN? W019 ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1970 R. ENGHOLM 3,494,642

TRACK AND TIE LAYING KIT Filed Aug. :50. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ROBERT ENGHOLM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,494,042 TRACK AND TIE LAYING KIT Robert Engholm, 64 Parker St, Laconia, NH. 03246 Filed Aug. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 756,575 Int. Cl. G01b 3/14 U.S. Cl. 33-174 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A modellers kit for assembling railroad track of varying curvature comprising a set of tie laying templates and a rail gauge, the templates comprising means for assembling ties on a working surface corresponding to tracks of different radii and a guide for marking the location of one rail on the ties, and the rail gauge comprising means for locating the second and third rails after the first rail has been laid.

My invention relates to model railroads, and particularly to a novel kit for facilitating the assembly of stretches of model railroad track of varying curvature.

Model railroading has long been a source of recreation and entertainment for persons of all ages. The level of craftsmanship, ingenuity, and even engineering skill involved in the hobby depends entirely upon the skill and experience of the modeller. However, particularly in the case of tin plate model railroad, commonly of 0 gauge or 027 gauge, there has been a considerable gap between the ability to assemble a set of prefabricated sections to form a circle of track upon which a prefabricated railroad train can be placed and set into operation, and the construction of a model railroad having the characteristics of a scale model of a prototype full scale railroad. The principle basic difficulty encountered is that prefabricated track sections, such as those illustrated, for example, in Patent No. 931,498, granted on Aug. 17, 1909, to H. C. Grant for Railroad Construction, are generally made only in a very limited number of shapes and sizes. Those commonly available consist of simple straight sections of fixed lengths and curved sections that are also of fixed length and which have a rather sharp radius of curvature. The reason for the sharp curvature is that to make prefabricated sections of reasonable cost, attention must be directed primarily to the high volume toy market, and the total diameter of a circle of toy track is necessarily quite restricted. These short radius sections are, however, for the most part quite unsuitable for the construction of a protype scale model railroad, because scale cars will not stay on them at any reasonable scale speed; scaled prototype curves are usually of a considerably larger radius. The alternative for the model railroader has been to obtain rails in individual lengths, and to lay first the ties, and then the rails, one rail at a time. That approach, however, requires a considerable level of patience and skill beyond that usually attained before the hobbyist becomes discouraged. It is the object of my invention to facilitate the construction of model railroad track to essentially any plan desired by the constructor.

Briefly, the above and other objects of my invention are attained by novel track and tie laying apparatus of my invention with which both curved and straight track sections can be laid quite accurately and rapidly without greatly challenging the skill of the constructor. This apparatus comprises a set of rail and tie laying templates, preferably including a straight template and a plurality of curved templates of different radii, and a rail laying gauge for laying the second rail, and the third rail when one is used after the first rail has been installed. Each rail and tie laying template for curved track comprises a rail guide plate having one edge serving to locate the inner ice rail of a stretch of track of predetermined radius, and a set of tie guides secured to the rail guide and adapted to locate the ties along the stretch of track with respect to the line of position of the inner rail established by the rail guide. The rail and tie laying template for straight track is of similar construction, but has a rail guide plate with a straight edge. By using the straight and curved templates in different sequences, essentially any rail plan that would correspond to a scale plan can be closely approximated.

The apparatus of my invention, and its mode of construction and operation, will best be understood in light of the following detailed description, together with the accompanying drawings, of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a railroad tie laying template in accordance with my invention, shown in use in conjunction with a plurality of ties and a marker;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary orthogonal sketch of the portion of the underside of the arrangement of FIG. 1, illustrating the construction of the template in more detail;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, taken essentially along the lines 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a step in the construction of a stretch of curved track in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken essentially along the lines 5-5 in FIG. 4, and showing the rail gauge of my invention in use; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view, with parts broken away, of a series of tie laying templates of my invention illustrating their use in assembling a stretch of track of varying curvature.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, I have shown a rail and tie laying template comprising a curved rail guide plate generally designated 1 having plane parallel upper and lower surfaces and a curved edge 3 normal to the upper and lower surfaces and conforming to the arc of a circle having a radius that is preferably one of a set of several provided in the kit. A convenient set of radii is the set of 24 inches, 36 inches, 48 inches and 60 inches. The guide plate may be made of any suitable convenient material, such as wood or metal or the like, but is preferably made from a suitable synthetic resin, as by injection molding. Apertures are formed in the guide plate 1 to receive each of a set of inner pins 5 and a corresponding set of outer pins 7. The pins are located along radii such as 11 and r2, of the circle defined by the curved edge 3.

Each pair of pins 5 and 7 is used to secure to the plate 1 a tie guide generally designated 9 that is correspondingly apertured to receive the ends of the pins. The pins may be secured to the tie guides 9 and plate 1 either by a close press fit, or by a suitable cement. Preferably, the pins 5 and tie guides 9 are made of the same material as the guide plate 1. Each tie guide 9 comprises a projecting end 11 of rectangular cross-section, and a rectangular end portion 13 that is wider than the section 11, whereby a ledge 15 is formed at the intersection of the portions 11 and 13 to serve as a stop locating the end of a tie 17 inserted between adjacent tie guides 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, end tie guides 9a are preferably provided at the ends of each template which are each essentially half of one of the tie guides 9. The purpose of that construction is to facilitate the use of a tie laying template of one radius in conjunction of one of a different radius as will be described below.

As suggested in FIG. 1, the ties 17 engage adjacent tie guide portions 11 at the ledges 15, but are slightly spaced from the tie guides at the outer ends thereof as indicated at 19. However, it is a simple matter to center each tie 17 at the outer end when its inner end is fixed in position by the adjacent guides 9.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the ties 17 are assembled with the use of the template on the working surface 21 of the support 23 on which the railroad is to be laid out, such as the surface of a sheet of plywood or the like. In operation, the rail and tie laying template is laid down on the working surface with the tie guides 9 in contact with the surface and the curved edge 3 located to correspond to the desired inner rail of the stretch of track to be laid. With the guide 1 held in that position, the ties 17 are inserted between the tie guides 9 and then fastened to the working surface by any suitable means, here shown as by brads 25. Alternatively, the ties may simply be cemented to the working surface.

When the ties have been installed along the stretch defined by the template, the location of the inner rail along them can be marked by drawing any suitable marker, here shown as a pencil 27, along the curved edge 3 and across the ties 17. When that has been accomplished, the template can be removed and the inner rail installed by spiking it to the ties with its inner edge along the line inscribed on the ties.

FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of the ties 17 after their installation with an inner rail 29 secured to the ties 17, as by spikes 31. FIG. 4 also shows the outer rail 33 in the process of installation with the air of an outer rail guide 35.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the rail guide 35 comprises a rectangular block 35 of wood, metal, plastic or the like, in which are provided a pair of parallel slots 37 and 39 adapted to receive the rails 29 and 33 when the latter are in proper gauge relation. Preferably, a third slot 41 is centrally disposed between the slots 37 and 39 to receive a third rail 43 where that is desired for propulsion purposes. On the opposed side of the block 35, I prefer to provide a second set of slots 45, 47 and 49 to serve for laying track of a different gauge, or of the same gauge but with a different rail thickness, as in the case of and 027 gauge. The rail guide 35 is preferably labeled, as indicated, to indicate the gauge associated with each set of slots. As shown, the lower set of slots is adapted for use with 027 gauge track, and the upper set is adapted for use with 0 gauge track.

The distance between the inner sides of the notches 37 and 39 will be 1%.", for 027 gauge, and the distance between the inner side of notches 41 and 49 will also be 1% for 0 gauge, the difference being in the wider slots needed for the larger rails used in 0 gauge construction. With the relatively large radius curves prefered for scale modeling, it is unnecessary to make any special provision for curvature of the slots in the rail gauge, so long as they are not too tight with the smallest radius in use. A wider range of radii can be accommodated by making the gauge 35 narrower, to shorten the slots.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rail 33 would initially com prise a strip of rail of any convenient length, such as a three foot length, that is laid in place on the ties 17, with the gauge 35 serving to locate it in relation to the inner rail 29. As the rail 33 is spiked to the ties 17, the gauge 35 is moved along to maintain the alignment until the installation is completed. Adjacent sections of rail may be electrically and mechanically connected with conventional pins.

FIG. 6 illustrates-the use of a set of templates to form a stretch of track of varying radius. In practice, the templates would be used one at a time, and they are here shown together primarily for convenience of illustration. However, particularly for the initial layout of a composite stretch of track, it may be desirable to use them in conjunction so that the layout can be established on the working surface before any of the ties are installed.

As shown in FIG. 6, an inflection curve is formed by a first template having a guide plate 1a with a first radius. The curve established by that section is transformed to a straight line by a second template having a straight guide plate 1b, and then an opposite curve is formed by the use of a template having a rail guide plate 10. The proper location of the plate 1c can be found either by marking the upper rail location with the guide 1b used from the opposite side of the track from that shown, after the ties had been installed, or the rail itself can be used as the guide if installation of the rails is completed through the straight section before the guide 10 is put into position. The guide plate 10 is used on the opposite side of the track, as shown. The confronting half sections of tie guides 9a facilitate the correct spacing of the ties 17 from section to section.

While I have described my invention with respect to the details of a preferred embodiment thereof, many changes and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading my description, and such can obviously be made without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A track and tie laying kit, comprising a set of rail and tie laying guides, each set comprising a guide plate having a convex arcuate edge defining a segment of a circle and a plurality of tie guides each having a first end afiixed to said plate and a second end opposite said first end and protruding outwardly past said edge along center lines in alignment with radii of said circle, each tie guide having a stop portion formed thereon at said first end adjacent the guide plate, and adjacent tie guides being spaced apart at the portions adjacent said stop portions by a distance corresponding to the width of a tie, each convex edge of each different one of said guide plates corresponding to a curve of different radius from the the others, and a rail gauge comprising a block formed on at least one side with spaced parallel slots adapted to receive a pair of rails and spaced apart a distance determined by the gauge of the railway to be constructed, whereby a stretch of curved track of varying radius can be laid on a working surface by sequentially placing selected guide plates on said surface each with its convex edge conforming to the inner edge of a different portion of the inner rail to be laid, inserting ties between the tie guides into contact with said stop portions and fastening them to the working surface, marking the fastened ties along the convex edge of each guide plate with the guide plate in place, securing the inner rail to the ties along the line so marked, and securing the outer rail to the ties as the rail gauge is moved along with the rails in said slots.

2. A tie laying template for use in the construction of a stretch of model railway track, comprising a curved guide plate having plane parallel upper and lower surfaces and one convex curved edge normal to said surfaces and shaped to conform to an arc of a circle of predetermined radius, and a plurality of tie guides mounted on said lower surface, each tie guide having a longitudinal center line extending along a radius of the circle defined by said edge and comprising a first rectangular portion extending along said center line from one side of said plate toward said curved edge to a termination at a distance from said curved edge corresponding to the distance of protrusion of a tie from an inner rail of a stretch of curved track when such inner rail is located by placing it on the curved edge of said guide plate, each tie guide further comprising a second rectangular portion of a smaller width than said first portion extending along said center line from the termination of said first portion and protruding out past said curved edge, the distance between adjacent second portions at their junctions with said first portions being equal to the width of a tie, said junctions forming stops limiting the insertion of a tie between adjacent guides, whereby a set of ties for a curved stretch of track can be laid on a working surface by placing the template on the surface with the tie guides in contact with the surface, inserting the ties between-adjacent tie guides with the nearest ends in contact with said junctions, and fastening the ties to the working surface, and whereby the location of the inner edge of the inner rail can be marked on the fastened ties by running a marker along the curved edge of the guide plate.

3. A track and tie laying kit for use in assembling a stretch of model railway track, comprising a set of tie laying templates and an outer rail gauge, said outer rail gauge comprising a block in which at least two spaced parallel slots are formed to receive the heads of at least two rails in a predetermined gauge relation, one of said tie laying templates comprising a rail guide plate having one straight rail locating edge defining the shape of one rail of a stretch of straight track, the rest of said tie laying templates each comprising an inner rail guide plate having one curved rail locating edge defining the shape in plan of the inner rail of a stretch of model track, said curved edges each conforming to the arc of a circle of different radius from the others, each tie laying template further comprising a set of tie guides each having an inner end secured to the rail guide plate and an outer end, each tie guide extending from said inner end to said outer end with said outer end projecting past the rail 10- cating edge of the rail locating plate, the tie guides secured to said rail guide plate having said straight rail 10- cating edge extending from said inner ends to said outer ends along lines normal to that edge, the tie guides secured to each rail guide plate having a curved rail 10- cating edge each extending past that edge from said inner end to said outer end along a radius of the circle defined by that edge, and stop means formed at said inner end of each tie guide to locate the inner ends of a set of ties inserted between said tie guides with respect to the rail locating edge of the rail guide plate to which the tie guide is secured.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, in which said tie guides include an end tie guide at each end of each rail guide plate and a set of tie guides on each guide plate intermediate each pair of end tie guides, each end tie guide being half the width of said intermediate tie guides and being flush with the ends of said plate, whereby tie spacing can be maintained when two templates are placed together to locate a rail section of varying radius.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1961 Soderberg 33-480 4/1949 Sykes 33-180 U.S. Cl. X.R. 33-480 

